Experts ready for Macworld Expo San Francisco

The biggest Macworld Expo of the year takes place January 7-11 2002 in San Francisco, and news of what's on offer has begun to emerge.

The event is regarded as the biggest in Apple's calendar. Macworld Expo San Francisco last year became the best-attended US West Coast IT event, attracting in excess of 85,000 visitors.

Macworld Expo San Francisco 2002 will feature a new presentation, "This ain't your parents' Mac: The Present and Future of the Mac Platform". The presentaion will reflect user opinion as Apple leads the transition to Mac OS X. Recent comments from Apple bigwig Phil Schiller hint that Apple will install Mac OS X on new Macs as the default start-up operating system from March next year.

Expert advice This new presentation takes place on Wednesday, January 9 and features a panel of industry experts. Moderated by Macworld US editor-in-chief Rick LePage, the panelists include: Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies; Bob "Dr Mac" LeVitus; and New York Times columnist David Pogue. The session offers an overview of the Mac platform and its future, taking a look at Apple's products, available applications, new processors and Mac OS X.

"In this presentation, attendees will hear about the Mac's future directly from the mouths of leading industry experts," said Darrell Baker, vice president of event services, IDG World Expo.

Online registration for Macworld Expo is now open. It begins with a keynote speech at 8.45am (West Coast time, 4.45pm UK time). The identity of the keynote speaker hasn't yet been announced.

Traditionally, Apple announces key product upgrades and offers an insight into its strategy for the year at the event. Macworld sources indicate that Apple PR is at a particularly high state of readiness ("red alert") for Expo this year.